Headlines
by Tunarh
Summary: 1344 hours, 56 days, 1.75 months, three girls, five guys in a band, and one tour. A tale of star studded lovers, drama in general and a lot of food consumption. For Natasha x
1. Your Song

Headlines

"and you can tell everybody  
that this is your song." –**elton john. **

CHAPTER ONE

_**02JUN13**_

**1:10PM,  
University of New South Wales Campus,  
Sydney, Australia. **

_Riley. _

"So…" I started as Avery and I headed out into the fresh air after our graduation ceremony, diplomas in hand. Our families were off somewhere, apparently attending to more important matters than congratulating us on the fact that we'd just graduated from any form of school. Forever. "We've graduated…"

Avery stopped mid step, eyes wide. "Oh wow. We've graduated…" she stared at the tube in her hand as if it were some alien. "What am I going to do now…" she asked, breathing heavily.

Avery Valencia was that typical kind of girl who thought that she was ugly, but in reality, she was the most exotic looking female on campus. Contrary to her Spanish heritage, Avery was the proud owner of these amazing long blonde locks that went past her shoulder blades and fell gracefully onto her back in a long fluttery waterfall type thing. Yeah, her hair was that pretty. Along with that, she had the most amazing eyes – a mix between green and brown that surprisingly didn't look like poop. Did I also mention that her legs went on for miles and she had the most perfect body? Yeah. She was _that _type of girl.

Exactly that girl that that song described. You know… the one by that pop boy band who looked like a bunch of grown up cherubs. _What Makes You Beautiful_ or whatever it was called.

I on the other hand, was the not-so-proud owner of a soup brand as a last name. Seriously, my dad's ancestors could've chosen a different last name. Not _Campbell._ All through school, I was 'soup girl'. Hey, I had nothing against soup. I just wish that whoever invented Campbell's soup had just chosen a different name.

But on the bright side, I may or may not be related to someone who owned a major soup company.

I should probably get some free soup because of it.

"Hey-" Avery snapped me out of my daydream. She gave me a weird look. "Your phone's ringing."

"Huh?" I asked, looking around. In fact, it_ was _ringing. I frowned at the caller ID. It was Zoey.

Now, I had nothing against Zoey. She was a really nice girl and her dad was the CEO of Sony or whatever. But I didn't believe in that fact that she had gotten a recording contract just because she can hit a few high notes. I'm not saying that she didn't have talent… I'm just saying that people with more talent have tried much harder for a recording contract like hers.

"Riley!" her voice greeted me as soon as I pressed accept. "You have to come to Sony as soon as possible!"

I held the phone a safe distance away from my ear, hoping that she hadn't perforated my eardrum yet.

"Wait, why?" I asked slowly.

Zoey just sighed heavily, as if I was taking up too much of her time. "No need for questions! I need you and Avery down at this office by two. You're going to regret it if you don't…" she warned before clicking off.

I stared at my phone.

"What was that about?" Avery asked, linking arms with me as we headed towards the parking lot.

"I guess we'll just have to find out."

**1:40PM,  
Sony Headquarters,  
Sydney, Australia. **

_Avery. _

I honestly didn't know what was happening.

I mean, one minute we were in the lobby of the gigantic factory-like building that was the headquarters of what could be the biggest record company in the world; the next, I was sitting opposite a very scary looking man sporting a magnificent moustache paired with a deep grey sheer suit.

"Hello girls," he greeted, leaning his elbows against the table and resting his chin in his hands. He studied us curiously.

"Um…" Riley began awkwardly. I shot her a look. "I was just wondering… what exactly are we here for? I mean, Zoey didn't really go into specifics about anything…"

Richard Davies (Well, that's what his little nameplate said he was) laughed, suddenly flooding the room in sunshine and daisies and shit like that. His laugh really did make you feel more relaxed though. It was weird.

"Oh, I should probably tell you girls what's going on, shouldn't I?" he laughed, folding his hands on the table.

Riley and I looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, for starters, I know all about you two," he gave us a knowing smile. "Zoey's told me all about you two and how you," he pointed at Riley, "want to be a tour manager, and you," he directed his finger at me, "want to become a public relations officer, am I correct?" he asked. We both nodded our heads timidly. "Well, I'm about to offer you girls a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"We've just graduated." Riley said bluntly. I aimed a kick at her from my position on the table.

"Well, yes, I know that," Richard said. "And I'm offering you girls a job." I raised my eyebrows. "With my daughter." My eyebrows shot up further. "On her tour with One Direction in the US in two weeks."

I believe that my eyebrows couldn't go any higher than they were now.

"Wait, what?" I blurted out. Well, shit.

"I'm offering you the job as a public relations officer for Zoey," he said towards me before turning to Riley. "And you've got the very important role of being her tour manager."

"Am I really qualified for that big of a job?" Riley asked carefully.

"Have you girls graduated? With diplomas and qualifications and everything?"

Slowly, Riley and I nodded.

"Well you've got the right qualifications for it all. And it's for Zoey who's just the support act in this matter. Obviously, I wouldn't set you up with someone as important as say, One Direction just yet."

Wait, who were they again?

"Why us though?" I asked curiously. "Out of all the qualified people you could've had for your daughter, why us two? I mean, we're barely out of school and we've got no experience whatsoever… why us?"

"You have both interned for various companies while completing your course. You did stuff with this company too, if I recall correctly?" he asked Riley. She nodded, unsure of what to say. He turned to me, "And you've interned with Nova FM?" I also nodded. "Well, that's plenty of experience as it is. You've both worked for major companies within Australia, you've gotten the qualifications for this job, plus you are two young girls who have just graduated from the University of New South Wales. I don't think that we can find two other people who are more fitted for the role than you two." He smiled reassuringly.

I bit my lip worriedly. Why was he being so nice? And generous?

"What's the catch?" Riley asked. Richard looked over at her in surprise. "I mean, this all sounds too good to be true. What do you gain from this?"

Richard leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "I gain the happiness of my daughter, that's what." He said simply.

I studied him curiously. He really did seem sincere about it all.

"I'll have my assistant pull up your contracts before you leave. You have 24 hours to get those checked out and returned to me before my offer is revoked," he said, getting up. We shook hands and he escorted us out of the room, a knowing smile on his face. "Think about it, girls."

And that was that.

**7:23PM,  
Riley & Avery's Apartment,  
Newtown, Australia. **

_Riley._

"Are we going to go through with this?" Avery asked me sceptically, yanking her tops off the hangers and shoving them into a large suitcase. I was sitting on her bed, studying the contract closely to see if there were any loopholes in the text while Avery cleaned out the apartment so we could put it on rent to whoever attended UNSW for the next few years.

"Well… I don't know about you, but it seems like a pretty sweet deal to me," I shrugged, rubbing my eyes and shoving the papers to the side.

"Is it worth it?" Avery asked, mid-packing. She stood there, playing with the cardigan in her hands while biting her lip thoughtfully. "I mean, can we handle it? Do you think we can?"

"Ave, if we can handle studying at one of the most prestigious universities in Australia, then I'm pretty sure we can handle some PR work and tour manager-ing." I scoffed. "Besides, we'll have help from the other band's people. We're not going through this alone."

Avery pretended to think about it for a second before her face broke out into a full-out grin. "Let's do this," she grinned, grabbing a pen and plopping down onto the bed beside me, signing the contract without hesitation.

_**03JUN13**_

**9:00PM,  
'Envy',  
Darling Harbour, Sydney.**

_Avery. _

"This place is… packed," I observed as Riley and I made our way into the club full of sweaty, gyrating bodies. We headed towards the bar, managing to avoid some drunk dude heading for the bushes outside, and some prostitute who was obviously so drunk that she didn't realise we shared the same X chromosomes.

"Hey Tim," Riley greeted, sitting on a vacant stool, leaving me to stand. I shot her a dirty look while she grinned slyly at me.

"Hey girls! Wassup?" He laughed, leaning over the counter to give us both a kiss on the cheek. "How are my girls today?" he asked, grabbing two glasses from the counter behind him and filling it to the brim with what looked suspiciously like vodka. It obviously wasn't water.

Obviously, Tim was gay. I wasn't sure what gave it away: maybe it was the pink bowtie that he constantly sported, or the gay mannerisms, but he was definitely gay. And he was one of the coolest people I knew.

"Guess who's officially employed?" Riley winked, thanking him as he handed her glass to her. He gasped and brought his hands to his mouth in excitement.

"Aw! I'm so proud of you girls!" he squeaked excitedly. "When do you start?"

Riley looked over at me before shrugging.

"We fly out tomorrow," I confirmed, sipping my drink tentatively. Tim's face fell.

"You mean you're leaving the country? You're leaving me?" he asked, devastation clouding his face.

Riley and I looked at each other before turning back to him. "It's not like that!" I said hastily while Riley grabbed his hand and held it in hers.

"We'll call," she assured him, giving him a small smile. Tim still seemed pretty sad, but brightened up enough to pour himself a glass.

"Well, cheers to you guys for getting a job!" he yelled jovially, clinking glasses with the both of us before downing his drink. "Well, I've got to get back to work, but you girls be safe, alright? I'll miss the both of you. And good luck!" he yelled as he disappeared towards the other end of the bar.

"He seemed… weird," I observed as we watched him greet another partygoer.

"Yeah…" Riley agreed. "C'mon, we need to find Elle."

**10:40PM,  
The VIP Room at 'Envy',  
Darling Harbour, Sydney.**

_Riley. _

I stood on the balcony, alone, gazing out at the shimmering lights in the distance. It was an amazing view, one that enabled me to escape the suffocating air inside. Avery and Elle had gone off to get some more drinks, so that had left me alone to fend for myself.

Elle was one of our close friends. Ave and I had been best friends since we were little kids, but Elle had always been in our little circle. Her father was the owner of some of the biggest night hotspots scattered throughout the whole city and her mother was a high ranking soap actress who had a little bit too much Botox injected into her in her lifetime.

And that was how we were able to get into the VIP section.

It was bizarre, really, to think that this time tomorrow, I would be on a plane, ready to land at LAX airport to start my new job as a _tour manager._ It was all I'd dreamed of since I had made up my mind about what I had wanted to do in year 10. And now everything was coming true.

I guess dreams do come true after all.

I was snapped out of my little daydream by a cloud of smoke filtering into the air I was breathing in. I whipped my head around to come face to face with a (very fit) guy sporting a leather jacket and Ray Bans even though it was dark and would probably restrict his eyesight even more than usual.

"Do you come here often, because I've seen you around?" he said, his voice practically dripping with confidence as he again, breathed out the carcinogen-laced smoke from between his (kissable) lips.

I raised an eyebrow at him as I leant against the balcony, folding my arms across my chest before realising that it was probably a bad idea. "That was probably the worst pick up line I've ever head in my life," I scoffed.

The guy smirked, bringing the cigarette to his lips once more. "It wasn't meant to be one," he said smugly.

I rolled my eyes at that, staring at the cigarette between his fingers. "Smoking is bad for you."

"Oh?" the guy asked, straightening up from his stance against the wall. "How so?"

"Causes cancer… shit like that." I trailed off awkwardly. Who the hell was this guy anyway and why was I actually having a conversation with him?

"Oh really," he asked, deadpan.

I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip as a means to prevent myself from speaking before I made a bigger fool of myself.

"Well, that's nice to know," he smirked, before walking over and stubbing out his cigarette on the post that was next to me. "Thanks for telling me, babe," he said softly into my ear, winking before walking off.

I let out the breath that I didn't know I'd been holding. What the hell?

_**04JUN13**_

**9:33AM,  
Sydney International Airport,  
Sydney, Australia. **

_Avery._

I groaned, massaging my temples as I leaned against the check-in counter. Riley was handling all the paperwork (thank god) and all I needed to do was to stand there and act pretty so the scowling woman would give us our boarding passes.

"Thank you so much," I heard Riley say, flashing the woman her million-watt grin before grabbing my arm and half-dragging me towards the side. "Could you act any more hungover?" she hissed at me.

I groaned, running my hand through my hair while avoiding her gaze. I hated it when I was looked down upon by Riley. Growing up, she'd become somewhat like a sister to me. And the fact that she was younger was what was so embarrassing. "I'm sorry," I apologised, grabbing my carry on and heading towards the food court to grab a coffee. Riley struggled to keep up with me, juggling her bag, phone and laptop sleeve with her. "Why are you carrying so much?" I question curiously.

Riley shrugged. "I need to get some work done on the place before we reach LA. There's just so much to be done…" she trailed off, looking down at her laptop sleeve exasperatedly. "This is all going just a tad too fast."

I sighed, "It is, isn't it?"

"Well, what can we do about it?" Riley asked, walking up to the gate that lead into the terminal. "I guess we're just in for the ride of our lives."

"You know what the motto is…" I grinned at her as we presented our tickets and put our stuff up to go through security scanning.

"What is it?" Riley asked curiously.

I grinned at her. "YOLO."


	2. Glad You Came

Headlines

"my universe will never be the same,  
i'm glad you came."** –the wanted.**

CHAPTER TWO

_**05JUN13**_

**12:03PM  
Terranea Resort  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Riley._

The place was amazing. Like seriously, how rich could One Direction be, hiring a _resort _instead of one of those lowly things you call a hotel? This place had its own _beach _for goodness sake.

I couldn't complain though… it was pretty much every girl's dream: paradise.

Avery and I stepped out of the taxi- er, _cab_,and grabbed our bags from the backseat while the doorman/suitcaseloaderdude loaded our suitcases onto a trolley, directing us into the lobby where we were supposed to check in. Now here was the dilemma… none of us knew which name to check in under.

Luckily, a cheery fella came from out of nowhere and introduced himself as Paul, the other band's tour manager. It was a warm welcome, really. He shook our hands, and led us over to the woman behind the counter and checked in for us. No effort from our part at all.

Paul looked behind us curiously, "Where's your artist?" he asked, grabbing our bags for us. Avery tried to refuse but he took them without a word. Oh.

"She's flying in tomorrow. She had some last minute paperwork to sort out over there." I explained as we both accepted our room keys off Paul.

He nodded and gestured for us to follow him to an elevator towards the right. He stopped short in front of us. "We've booked you girls an ocean view villa to accommodate you and Zoey Davies." he explained, handing us our papers. "You'll have top access to everything. The entire band have also hired out a villa here, so you might run into them soon. We're all here temporarily until we start the tour." He grinned. "So make sure you put all the facilities to good use. It's on us." He smiled before ushering us into the elevator and heading off to his room on the other side of the resort, much closer to where his band was.

We got to our room to find that our suitcases had beat us there.

"Wow." I commented. "Efficient…"

Avery laughed as we explored our villa wonderingly. If the place wasn't rated one of the best in the country, then I was a monkey's uncle.

The place featured an open living room with glass doors that folded up to connect to the little terrace outside where a bonfire was burning happily. It also had a fully equipped kitchen (read: free food) and two bathrooms (thank the lord) along with three large king sized bedrooms. Avery and I squealed happily as we rushed to our rooms, dumping our stuff on the floor before collapsing on our beds.

"This is amazing!" I yelled out towards the next room. "I actually can't believe our luck right now," I breathed, sighing happily as Avery shouted her agreement. I rolled onto my stomach, pulling out the laptop from its bag on the floor, powering it on and checking my emails. It was from Paul.

-_  
Message from:  
_Paul Higgins  
_Received at:  
_12:55PM today.  
-

_Subject: _YOUR ITINERARY FOR TOMORROW.  
-

Team, this is your itinerary for tomorrow. Please be where you are appointed at all times. If you have any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me, Paul Higgins.

9AM: - Zoey Davies to arrive. Check in to villa with Avery Valencia and Riley Campbell.  
- One Direction media interview in the resort function room.  
11AM: - meeting with the entire team in the function room of the resort.  
12PM: - introduction of artist Zoey Davies to band One Direction in function room.  
- creative team meeting in Villa #2  
- One Direction musical accompaniment to arrive. Check in to separate villa.  
1PM: - lunch.  
3PM: - meeting between Avery Valencia and Rodd Baker to discuss promotional material.  
- meeting between Riley Campbell and Paul Higgins to discuss tour.  
5PM: - end of business day.

I read the itinerary thoroughly, sending it to my phone before shutting off the laptop and settling into bed in an attempt to sleep off the jetlag. It was going to be a huge day tomorrow…

* * *

_**06JUN13**_

**9:08AM  
Villa #4 of Terranea Resort  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Avery._

I woke up to the sound of the door slamming and a loud, shrill greeting made by none other than Zoey Davies.

"Hey girls!"

Rolling over, I buried my face into my pillow before sitting up and gathering my hair into a bun. I was definitely not a morning person. Trotting into the adjoining bedroom, I splashed my face with cool water before brushing my teeth and hopping into the shower in order to _attempt _to look presentable. I could hear the voices outside belonging to Riley and Zoey. Oh god, they were already arguing and it was only the first day of three months we were going to spend together.

Finishing up, I wandered out to the kitchen where Riley was munching happily on a grilled cheese sandwich while Zoey was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing a bowl of berries of all sorts from the fridge, I leaned against the counter, munching happily while studying Riley with interest.

There was silence until I spoke up.

"So exactly what did you say to her?"

"Say to who?" Riley asked innocently, finishing off her sandwich and grinning at me.

"Zoey."

"I didn't say anything to her," Riley answered, rinsing her plate off before placing it in the dishwasher.

I popped a blueberry into my mouth, waiting patiently for her to crack.

"Okay, I told her off." Riley admitted. I groaned, walking to the other side of the breakfast bar and settling myself on a stool.

"You can't do that anymore, Ri," I said, still munching on the berries.

Riley shrugged. "I've known her for ages. It's not like she's going to fire me," she said, stealing a few berries from my bowl. "Plus, she was making _way _too much noise for nine in the morning."

I rolled my eyes at her as she headed off for the bathroom to get ready for the meeting at 11. I was finishing off my berries when Zoey sauntered in, dressed in a nice little sundress. I raised my eyebrows at her. "You look nice," I commented, placing the bowl in the dishwasher.

"Oh?" Zoey asked, settling herself on the stool that I had just vacated. "Thanks," she sighed. I laughed at her glum expression.

"Cheer up, bub. She's only being herself."

"Yeah, I guess…" Zoey trailed off. Riley chose that moment to reappear, attacking Zoey in a massive bear hug.

"I apologise for what I said before," Riley said sincerely, her hair still dripping wet from the shower.

"You're getting me wet!" Zoey squealed, although there was a smile on her face. I glanced over at Riley who looked like she was going to say something dirty, but stopped herself at the very last minute.

"Sorry about that too, then," she struggled to hold in her laughter. "But you know how I am in the mornings. You should know better than to barge into my room at some ungodly hour and demand me to wake up. That shit takes time." Riley said, opening the doors in the living room and dragging them all the way out, so that the whole villa was shrouded in fresh ocean air.

"It's so pretty…" Zoey commented, wandering outside and looking over at the ocean.

"Yes it is," I agreed, before heading into my room. "You guys better get dressed. We have a meeting at 11."

* * *

**10:56AM  
The Terranea Resort Function Room.  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Riley._

"Did I really sleep for 17 hours straight? I've never actually done that before," I said as we walked towards the function room of the resort.

Avery yawned, agreeing. "Surprisingly, oversleeping makes me feel a lot more tired than not getting enough sleep does."

Avery and I walked into the function room to be met with around 24 sets of eyes belonging to all the people seated around a huge long meeting table. Paul greeted us from the other side of the room and gestured to two spare seats near him. We quickly made our way towards them. Shit, it was only our first day and we were already late.

The meeting was quite uneventful, really. Zoey was allowed to stay out of it (lucky bitch) and the One Direction boys were also excused. We talked tour schedules, stage designs, advertising opportunities, marketing opportunities, and other important factors that contributed to a successful tour. I learnt that I was supposedly head of my whole team (it was quite daunting really) and was responsible for my lot. I also had to assist Paul at all times on the tour (apparently, the One Direction boys were quite a handful).

When the meeting was adjourned, I remained seated with Paul while Avery filed out to her next meeting with the creative team. Apparently, the tour needed more advertising (insert sarcastic whoo here).

"So how are you finding the job so far?" Paul asked, gathering his notes together and clipping them into a sleek black folder. I did the same with mine and packed them away into my case, pulling out my laptop.

"It's actually quite fun." I grinned. "I mean, it's hard, sure, but I find it really entertaining."

"I'm glad you find it that way. Not many people can handle this," he said, pulling out another blank sheet of paper and a pen. "And plus, considering the fact that you're brand new to this industry, it's quite impressive. Keep up the good work, Riley," he patted me on the back reassuringly. We both glanced up as a knock sounded on the door and it opened to reveal one of the hotel staff.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but there are five young men here to see you?" he asked, looking rather flustered. I looked up at him questioningly.

"PAUL!" a voice yelled out, not bothered to wait for the door boy's consent to come through. "How are you, bud? We've missed you." A handsome brunette fella perched himself on the chair next to Paul, his elbow resting on the table and his face resting in his hand. He waited patiently for Paul to answer.

"Louis." Paul started slowly, "You saw me yesterday…"

"Yeah, well we've missed your fascinating company," the boy named Louis answered as four other boys filed into the room.

Including the same guy from two nights ago.

Well, at least I thought it was the same guy from the club. I mean, he had the same hair, same stance, same stupid air of confidence around him…

But what the hell is he doing in LA?

Unless…

Holy shit, I had a flirty conversation with some famous boy band member and I didn't even know it.

Keep cool, Riley, keep it cool.

"Hey boys," Paul greeted. He was answered by a chorus of hi's and hello's. "Meet Riley. This is the support artist's tour manager."

Club guy finally looked up from his phone and locked eyes with me (and not like in the movies where there's some instant spark between them and they get out of their chairs and run towards each other and embrace lovingly and all that bullshit. Even if we did that [which we didn't and probably never will], it would've probably resulted in a bloody nose on my part) and a flash of recognition passed through his face. He watched me curiously as he sat down in the seat opposite me, a smirk playing on his lips.

"I'm Zayn," he greeted, setting his phone on the table in front of him. "Nice to meet you, Riley," he said, grinning. I wasn't going to succumb to his charm, no. I refuse to.

"Nice to meet you, Zayn," I answered just as the door opened again and Zoey came in, looking nervous and confused.

"Ah!" Paul exclaimed, getting up and shaking Zoey's hand. "You must be Zoey! It's nice to meet you," Paul greeted cheerfully. The other boys got up and did the same. All except for Zayn, who was still studying me curiously. I avoided his gaze, trailing my eyes over my laptop while waiting for the formalities to cease.

Zayn finally glanced up as everyone settled back into their seats, Zoey taking the chair next to me. "Nice to meet you, Zoey." he greeted, waving. "I'm Zayn."

"Good to meet you too." Zoey said softly. She was obviously nervous.

I sighed and typed way on my laptop patiently while waiting for the others to get to know each other. They chatted about the most random things while Paul and I exchanged a few notes about how they interacted with each other. It was a good thing that they actually got along well… if they turned out to hate each other, well… we'd have a problem.

The meeting turned out to be somewhat uneventful. Zoey filed out with the other boys heading to lunch while I stayed back to finish a few things with Paul. We had a lot more to do before everything was finalised, but that would all be done at the next meeting.

"You've worked really well today, Riley," Paul said as we headed towards the outdoors buffet where the rest of the crew were. "You'll do a great job," he grinned, leaving me alone.

I shoved the rest of my things into my bag and left the restaurant, heading over to the villa to drop my stuff off before lunch.

A voice greeted me as I left the main building along with another round of carcinogen-laced smoke. Of course. How could I not see this coming?

"Are you stalking me?" Zayn asked, leaning against the wall of the building underneath a sign that said 'No Smoking'. What a rebel.

"And why would you think that?" I quipped, adjusting the strap of my bag.

"Because two days ago, I was talking to you in a completely different continent." Zayn said, breathing out another cloud of smoke. Seriously, how is this guy a singer?

"The real question is, are _you _stalking _me_?" I asked. Zayn raised his eyebrows, chuckling softly.

"You're something, aren't you?"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You're difficult." He observed, studying me scrutinisingly. His gaze was making me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Well that's awesome to know," I answered lamely. "But I'll have to go now."

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then," Zayn said, stubbing out his cigarette with his foot.

"I guess so." I said, turning away from him and his darned smirk.

* * *

**1:25PM  
Catalina Kitchen, Terranea Resort.  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Avery. _

I was by myself.

Not that I had a problem with that, of course, but in such a new and uncomfortable surrounding, it was quite… awkward, shall I say. I knew no one. Wow, I really needed to get myself out there, make a few new friends, you know?

Suddenly, the chair next to me scraped backwards and a figure plopped themself down on it, placing their plate of food on the table. I glanced up in surprised, dragging my attention away from my phone.

"Hi…" I greeted cautiously.

I was answered by a cheeky grin. "Hello!"

The guy who had invited himself to take a seat next to me couldn't be any older than me, with unbelievably luscious-looking curly hair and amazing facial structure. That, thrown in with his motherfreakin' dimple and I was a goner.

"I'm Harry Styles," he greeted, holding out his hand for me to take. Shaking it, I glanced around curiously.

"I'm Avery Valencia," I smiled, watching as another boy of around my age plopped down on the seat opposite to me.

"Hello gorgeous!" he greeted, also holding out his hand for me to shake. "I'm Louis Tomlinson."

"Hi…" I said cautiously, watching as another boy plopped down on the seat next to Louis. "I'm Niall," he grinned, launching immediately into his food. Were these boys ever going to stop coming- oh wait, here comes another.

"I'm Liam," he greeted adorably. Hmm... adorable… but not my type.

"I'm Avery," I smiled, putting my phone away.

"Who are you?" Harry asked curiously.

Now it was my turn to be confused. "I'm Avery…?" it was more of a question than a statement, really.

Harry chuckled (adorably, might I add). "I meant, why are you here? With the team?"

"How did you know I was a part of the team?" I questioned. Louis answered by pointing to a sign behind me.

'**Reserved for band members & crew.**'

"Oh." I said lamely. "Right."

"Don't worry, we're used to it," Niall reassured me, not really reassuring me at all.

"I'm the PR for Zoey." I said, answering Harry's previous question while not really knowing how to answer Niall's.

"Oh cool," Liam said, shooting Harry a warning glance. It was weird. "So you work with Rodd?"

"Kind of…" I said, trailing. "He was called off to a meeting with the head of management an hour ago… I haven't seen him since."

"Wow." Harry commented. "Reckon he's getting fired?"

"Harry!" Liam scolded. "You can't say things like that!"

"I can say whatever I want," Harry replied. I rolled my eyes at them both. Typical boys.

"Look, I'll leave you boys to it," I announced, pushing my chair back and getting up. "I'll see you guys later." I grinned, about to leave.

"See you 'round like a rissole!" A voice yelled out. I'll give you three guesses as to who that was.

* * *

**tell me what you guys thought :) would love to hear feedback from you all :D **

**love, tunarh. **


	3. Take Care

Headlines

"can't deny that i want you  
but i'll lie if I have to." –**drake (ft. rihanna)**

CHAPTER THREE

**7:38PM  
Villa #4 of Terranea Resort.  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Avery. _

"Well today wasn't tiring at all…" I said, slouching down on the couch with a glass of wine. It was weird not being old enough to drink in the country yet (I had a month to go).

"Agreed," Riley said, slumping down next to me. The TV was blaring some reality TV show that had a pointless plot along with a pointless plot. All in all, it was pretty pointless – and a waste of time and money.

"So how'd you like the other boys?" I called to Zoey who was moving around in the kitchen, looking for some food.

"They're nice, really." Zoey, said, emerging from the kitchen empty handed. "Nelson's, anyone?"

I glanced up at the time – 7:40PM. "Sure, we might be able to catch the sunset if we hurry."

* * *

**8:01PM  
Nelson's, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Riley._

I guess it was safe to say that the place was crazy packed. The inside of the restaurant was dotted with hotel goers and guests, all chatting away happily over dinner. Zoey, Avery and I managed to snag one of the vacant lounges. It consisted of fourvery comfortable looking chairs situated around a cosy bonfire. The plates on the table next to the bonfire consisted of all types of fruit, some marshmallows, chocolate and some long skewers.

Yep. Definitely paradise.

"This place is actually amazing…" I commented, skewering a marshmallow and holding it towards the fire. Avery and Zoey opted for the strawberries and chocolate rather than the s'mores.

"Agreed," Zoey said, licking the remnants of the chocolate off her fingers.

"We've got a free day tomorrow, girls," Avery piped up, checking her phone for emails. "I mean, until five when we have to start loading the vans. We start tomorrow night, heading over to Florida where we have a few days free until the tour kicks off in Sunrise. Why we're leaving so early still beats me. "

I also pulled out my phone, pulling up my emails. The entire tour schedule had been emailed to us, including our itineraries for the next day.

_Message from:_  
Paul Higgins  
_Received at:_  
8:22PM today.

Subject: YOUR ITINERARY FOR TOMORROW.

Team, this is your itinerary for tomorrow. Please be where you are appointed at all times. If you have any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me, Paul Higgins.

ITINERARY

4PM: - Vans to arrive.  
- Riley Campbell and Paul Higgins to be there to get everything ready.  
:15PM: - One Direction creative team to arrive and load their stuff into vans.  
:30PM: - Zoey Davies creative team to arrive and load their stuff into vans.  
:45PM: - luggage to be loaded into buses to depart for the airport at 7PM sharp.  
5PM: - all buses to be finalised. All crew members + artists must be present.  
:15PM: - all crew and artists to finalise everything with the resort and have dinner before heading to LAX airport. Food will not be provided in the plane.  
7PM: - all artists and crew are to depart for LAX airport with their personal items. All musical and stage equipment will be flown to Sunrise, Florida separately. Arrangements have already been made.

Also attached is the tour schedule. Please read over carefully.

TOUR SCHEDULE

13JUN13: Sunrise Bank Atlantic Center  
14JUN13: Miami American Airlines Arena  
16JUN13: Louisville KFC Yum!Center  
18JUN13: Columbus Nationwide Arena  
19JUN13: Nashville Bridgestone Arena  
21JUN13: Atlanta Philips Arena  
22JUN13: Raleigh PNC Arena  
23JUN13: Washington DC Verizon Center  
25JUN13: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center  
26JUN13: Mansfield Comcast Center  
28JUN13: Wantagh Nikon at Jones Beach Theater  
29JUN13: Wantagh Nikon at Jones Beach Theater  
30JUN13: Sunrise BankAtlantic Center  
02JUL13: East Rutherford IzodCenter  
04JUL13: Montreal, CAN BellCenter  
05JUL13: Hershey Hersheypark Stadium  
06JUL13: Hershey Hersheypark Stadium  
08JUL13: Pittsburgh Consol Energy Center  
09JUL13: Toronto, CAN Air Canada Centre  
10JUL13: Toronto, CAN Air Canada Centre  
12JUL13: Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills  
13JUL13: Tinley Park First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre  
14JUL13: Tinley Park First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre  
18JUL13: Minneapolis Target Center  
19JUL13: Kansas City Sprint Center  
21JUL13: Houston Toyota Center  
22JUL13: Dallas American Airlines Center  
24JUL13: Denver Pepsi Center  
25JUL13: West Valley City Maverik Center  
27JUL13: Vancouver, CAN Rogers Arena  
28JUL13: Seattle Key Arena  
30JUL13: San Jose HP Pavilion at San Jose  
31JUL13: Oakland Oracle Arena  
02AUG13: Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center  
03AUG13: Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center  
06AUG13: Chula Vista Cricket Wireless Ampitheatre  
07AUG13: Los Angeles Staples Center.  
08AUG13: Los Angeles Staples Center.

Regards, Paul.

"Shit, that is a lot of dates…" I whistled as I skimmed over the email. Zoey stared at it wide-eyed. "You alright, Zo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zoey said, flustered. "I mean, I knew this tour was going to end in August, but I didn't really acknowledge how many venues we're actually going to play…"

"Well you're a worldwide phenomenon now, sweetheart!" Avery laughed, "I mean well, not yet, but once the tour kicks off, then yes, you will be. I'll make sure of it," she grinned before popping a strawberry into her mouth.

I leaned back against the chair, taking everything in; the low murmur of chatter belonging to our fellow restaurant goers, the sound of the waves crashing against the ocean, the sound of the fire crackling in the air… and also… the smell of cigarette smoke.

Wrinkling my nose, I got up from my seat and peered over the edge of the balcony. The quiff gave it away… of course it was him.

"Hey, I'll be right back, yeah?" I called over to the other two as I made my way down the stairs down to the sandbank where, sure enough, Zayn Malik was smoking, leaning against the wall. Why was it that every time I saw the guy, he was leaning against the wall, smoking?

"Fancy seeing you here," Zayn's eyes twinkled as he smirked at me. Someone tell me again what made me come down here, please?

"I- I was just-" Why in the world did you just stutter, Riley? Why did you do that?! "I just needed some air," I concluded.

Zayn smirked, taking another drag before offering me the packet. I shook my head at him.

"Smoking is bad for you," I pointed out. "It can cause cancer."

"And there's also something called passive smoking. I heard that can cause cancer too." Zayn looked at me pointedly.

"Is that a nice way of telling me you want to get rid of me?"

Zayn raised his eyebrows, "Trust me babe, if I wanted to get rid of you, I wouldn't have wasted this much time with you."

"I guess that's sort of comforting," I said, standing there awkwardly, watching as he got rid of yet another cigarette while straightening up.

"Want to take a walk?"

* * *

**8:52PM  
Nelson's, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA.**

_Avery._

I sighed as I settled back into my chair. I only had these few precious hours left until my life became a tidal wave of work. Shows and work and more shows and more work. Yeah, that's pretty much what summed up the next three months for me.

I was snapped out of my daydream when a figure plopped down beside me. On the same chair. It was Harry Styles. Really though, the guy had no boundaries.

"Hi!" he greeted cheerfully. I smiled softly at him.

"Harry, right?" I grinned. "I appreciated the worst pickup line I've ever heard, by the way."

He only gave me a cheeky smile, drumming his hands on his knees to the beat of the background music. "Hear that?" he asked me, now nodding his head to the beat.

I strained my ears to listen to the song. It went something along the lines of 'beautiful' and 'world'. I rolled my eyes. "Oh not one of these again."

Harry whipped his head around to stare at me. "What do you mean?"

"It's one of those songs again – you know, where it's all just cheesy music and bad lyrics." I replied.

He chuckled but didn't say anything. Well that was weird…

From the seat across from me, Zoey was silently laughing at me. 'What?' I mouthed at her.

She pointed to Harry, to the speaker, and then the Louis. That didn't make sense. I gave her a confused look. 'It's their song,' she mouthed to me.

OH.

Well shit.

I looked up at Harry, red faced with embarrassment. He was smirking at me. "It's your song, isn't it?" I asked.

He nodded, grinning before singing the chorus softly, his face close to my ear. Whoa. Boundaries.

Couldn't really help those chills travelling up my spine though.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed…"

I blushed at the proximity of his face to mine, his warm breath against of my neck sending chills shooting up my spine. He moved away from me after lingering there for a second, a cheeky grin plastered all over his face.

"Guess what?" he asked.

"What?"

"I was right."

"About what?"

"The other PR guy – Rodd… he got fired."

I took a moment to process it all. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah… apparently he was leaking info out to the media to make us look bad," Harry bit his lip. I was surprised. What kind of PR does that?

"So are you guys going to get a new PR person or…?" I asked nervously. Rodd had seemed like a nice guy. I didn't want to next person I was working with to be a total dick.

"And that's the next bomb I'm going to drop," Harry grinned wickedly. "Richard who's our overall manager – he says that it's too much of a hassle to get a new PR agent in such a short notice." Harry paused.

"Wait, what are they going to do for PR then?"

"They're extending the job to you." Harry announced happily.

"What?" I asked, shocked. My heart was drumming incessantly against my chest. This was big. Huge. Massive. Fucking enormous news. I couldn't be a PR for One Direction. They're (apparently) the world's biggest boy band at the moment. I had no experience in this whatsoever. This wasn't going to work.

"Yeah, welcome to One Direction." Harry spread his arms wide as though he was going to pull me into a bear hug.

"Stop making yourself sound like an airline." I snapped irritably. I was still trying to process this brand new information. "They haven't even told me yet. And how do you even know?"

"Paul told me," Harry said simply. "Oh, you have a meeting at two tomorrow with Richard in the function room, by the way."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's how I know. Paul told me to tell you and then I kept bugging him about what it was so he told me." Harry said smugly.

I was _still _trying to process this. It was all too much for me. I stood up suddenly, hastily excused myself, ignored a surprised looking Harry and walked off down the steps that Riley had just taken towards the ocean.

* * *

**9:59PM  
Nelson's, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Zoey. _

I looked up in surprise, watching as Avery covered her mouth and rushed off down the stairs towards the sandbank where Riley had disappeared (and had never come back, might I add) earlier. Harry watched her go, a conflicted look on his face before brushing his curls away and getting up. He muttered a quick goodbye to both me and Louis before heading in the direction in which he'd come, towards his villa.

Louis and I watched him go in surprise.

And then there were two.

"So…" I began awkwardly.

Louis looked like he was in pain. Dude, if you didn't want to be around me, all you had to do was say it. I turned my attention away from him towards the marshmallow attached to the stick in my hand. 90% of it was on the floor, having melted away.

"Can I ask you something?" Louis asked suddenly, making me jump and drop the stick. Blushing, I reached down to grab it. And so did Louis.

Oh gosh. Bang.

Our heads collided, and we both snapped back up, rubbing the spot where our heads had bumped. I could feel a bruise coming on.

"You were saying?" I asked, reaching down again, this time successfully grabbing hold of the stick.

"Uh, yeah…" Louis began, turning his phone around over and over in his hands. "I know I don't know you… but you're a girl… and I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"Sure," I said instantly, placing the stick down on the side table and grabbing my drink. I took a sip and listened carefully as Louis explained his problems with his girlfriend, Eleanor.

"So you're saying that you think she's growing distant from you because of your celebrity lifestyle? And you suspect she's cheating on you?" I asked slowly, pondering the situation.

Louis nodded, waiting patiently for me to answer him.

"Well, are you willing to confront her about it?" I asked.

Louis bit his lip and shrugged, "I'm not totally sure," he answered finally.

"Well, you could start by assessing what the problem really is? Is it the fact that you guys don't spend enough time together? Or if you guys have trust issues? You're away on tour 75% of the time, surrounded by girls who are ready and willing to hop in bed with you at any moment-" he flinched at that. "You'll have to see everything from her point of view before you go jumping to conclusions."

"Yeah I know that, but I can't help but wonder…" Louis trailed off uncertainly.

"Why would she have a reason to cheat though?" I asked, still confused as to why Louis was feeling so unsure of his girlfriend (who I've noticed is gorgeous, by the way).

"I don't know… she just seems distant lately."

I sighed. "Look, Louis. No one can fix this by you guys. When are you seeing her next?"

"Well, she's joining the tour in Nashville."

"Perfect. That's in around a week and a half's time. You guys could have a massive dnm then." I grinned. Louis looked like he was conflicted.

"Could something happen between now and then?" he asked, biting his bottom lip. He looked pretty attractive doing that. And along with his stubble… STOP THAT. The guy is talking to you about his girlfriend and you're having inappropriate thoughts about him? What the hell, Zoey?

"It all comes down to whether you trust her or not. Do you trust her?" I asked him, looking at him square in the eye.

"Yes." Louis answered unwaveringly. I grinned.

"Well, I don't see what your problem is."

* * *

**thoughts?  
-tunarh x**


	4. Climax

Headlines

"going nowhere fast we've  
reached the climax." –**usher**

CHAPTER FOUR

_**07JUN13 **_

**7:56AM  
Villa #4, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Riley. _

I groaned, flipping over and grabbing the alarm on the bedside table. I had hit the snooze button way too many times, and now it was just continuously beeping. Letting out a strangled war cry, I launched the stupid contraption against the opposite wall where it fell into my suitcase, the noise immediately getting cut off.

I buried my head in my pillow before sitting up, walking over and inspecting the wall to see if I'd done any permanent damage.

"So where did you disappear off to last night?" A voice said from the doorway, scaring me senseless. I sat down onto the floor, clutching my heart dramatically.

"You almost killed me," I accused, glaring at Avery as she stood there, smirking.

"What did you do last night?" she asked, ignoring my statement.

I sighed, shuffling around so that my back was against the wall and I was wedged between by open suitcase and the large comfy armchair. "I don't know…" I said, staring up at the patterns on the ceiling.

Avery walked over and came to sit on the arm of the chair, watching me curiously. "Who were you looking for?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I saw Zayn Malik and went to say hi."

Avery crooked an eyebrow. "You saw Zayn Malik and went to say hi?" she repeated, her voice laced with judgment. I rolled my eyes at her overreacting.

"Chill… we didn't do anything. We're just friends." I said, biting my lip.

"Friends who are willing to fuck each other?"

I looked up at her in surprise. "What makes you say that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Because the sexual tension between you two is quite obvious."

"You haven't even seen us together before."

"Yeah, but I have an imagination for a reason, you know? And you've got a mouth. Not a day goes by where you don't recount your meetings with him."

"I do not!" I snapped back, trying to retain whatever dignity I had left. "Admit it, that was an exaggeration. And I only remember telling you about him once, and that was the night after the club when I didn't even know that he was famous."

Avery just grinned knowingly at me. She knew me too well, and I hated her for that. "Well whatever you guys are, I just want to let you know, and to reassure you, that deep down inside my heart, past all of the arteries and capillaries and veins and whatnot, I ship you guys together."

"That was deep." I nodded, impressed. "I'll tell it to Zayn so that he can tweet it or whatever he does."

Avery cocked her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, he has this tendency to quote all this deep stuff which makes you want to re-evaluate your life." I said bitterly. "He's made me question whether I've lived my life properly half a dozen times already."

"Ok…"

"Yup."

"Yeah…"

"You just made things awkward." I pointed out. Avery gave me a pointed look before turning on her heel and walking off.

"You've got a meeting with Paul at nine to finalise a few things!" she yelled down the hall towards me. I crawled over to my suitcase and began fishing around for my abandoned alarm clock. It was surprisingly still working by the time I'd found it. It was 8:15AM. Shit.

I jumped up and grabbed a pair of high-waisted shorts and an aqua coloured flowy top thing and ran towards the bathroom, praying that the shower wouldn't go over half an hour.

It went over half an hour.

By the time I'd climbed out of the shower, dressed, dried my hair and did my makeup, it was pushing 8:55AM. I quickly grabbed my bag, a folder on my desk and dashed out to the kitchen where Avery and Zoey were lazing around, watching Nickelodeon.

Lo and behold!

Our infamous boy band co-artists were featured in this episode.

I rolled my eyes at the curly haired boy's (Harry, I think his name was) terrible acting before grabbing a croissant from the dish in the middle of the kitchen island. I stuffed it in my mouth and grabbed my cardigan from the chair before running out the door. I checked my phone, my mouth still full of croissant. 8:57AM. I could do this.

I couldn't do it.

I ended up getting to the function room at 9:05AM, cursing under my breath and repeatedly apologising to Paul who took it in good stride. He smiled reassuringly at me before telling me that it was all right and that it was only the first time I'd been late and that it'd only been five minutes. Apparently, the One Direction boys had left him waiting for over 45 minutes once because they 'couldn't decide what to wear'. I'm seriously questioning their sexuality right now.

Okay, back to the meeting.

Paul looked up at me, hesitating before opening his mouth to speak. "Okay, I'm going to have to get this straight…" He started.

I waited for him to continue. He didn't. "Go on…" I said encouragingly.

"Well, for starters, let's just say that the boys have a very, um, _large _fan base."

"You got that right," I commented. Paul raised his eyebrows at me. "Sorry, go on."

"Yeah, well, this fan base is notorious for sending, uh, death threats to every female the boys hang out with…" he said uncomfortably.

"Oh. Wow." I whistled. "That's pretty intense."

"Yeah, it's just the select few. Most of them are rather nice," he smiled. "But I just wanted to warn you – and the other two girls, if you're willing to pass this information on – about the threats you might get if you're seen around these boys," he said. "I mean, it probably won't happen, but then you girls are young and attractive and some of the boy's fans might find you… a threat." He coughed uncomfortably.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Paul, don't worry about us. We're pretty tough." I grinned. Paul seemed to visibly relax.

"Well that's good. You'll tell the other girls?"

"Definitely."

With that, we continued on with the meeting, finalising the boy's draft for their set list, Zoey's set list, and a few other important aspects of the tour before calling it quits and ending the meeting. I was still quite surprised at what tweens these days are capable of doing.

I checked my phone again. It was 10:30AM. Figuring that Avery and Zoey wouldn't have left the villa yet, I headed back there, struggling to balance my phone in one hand and my laptop and folder in the other. Suddenly, I felt the folder slipping out of my grasp, sliding out from under my arm and falling onto the floor. I quickly finalised the email that I had been replying to before kneeling down and organising the papers that had fallen out of the folder.

Suddenly, a new pair of hands joined in with picking up the papers. I glanced up in surprise to meet with a pair of hazel eyes, belonging to none other than Zayn Malik himself.

"Hi…" I greeted, shuffling the papers together and clipping them into my folder. He handed me his pile with a knowing grin plastered on his face.

"Hey."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're following me." I gave him a pointed look. He just shrugged.

"I was going out for a smoke when I saw you surrounded by papers." he explained. "I thought I'd do something nice for a change."

I laughed, "Well there's a first for everything," I grinned.

"Yup."

"Are you excited for tour?" I asked, clutching the folder close to my chest while also balancing the laptop in my arms.

Zayn reached out and grabbed the load from my arms before I could drop it again. I gave him a grateful look before placing the phone in my bag. I held out my hands for the stuff but he shook his head and began moving.

"Yes I am, actually," he answered my previous question. "I can't wait to experience that rush again… the feeling you get when you're performing on stage and you have thousands of people staring at you, and then you realise that the sole purpose they're there is to see you perform – to see you do something you love. It's unbelievable."

I looked up at him. I'd never seen a performer so sincere before. "Where would you be if you didn't apply for X Factor?" I asked. "I mean, this has taken over your life."

"Yeah, it definitely has. It's stressful, it's tiring, and it restricts me from seeing my family, but in the end, it's definitely worth it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I didn't apply for X Factor three years ago, I would definitely be studying somewhere, or at a boring old office job," he pulled a face.

"Hey!" I protested. "Leave us commoners alone," I laughed.

He chuckled, glancing over at me quickly before looking away. I watched him curiously. What was that?

"So how do you feel working for us?" he asked, smirking.

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not working for you."

"Well, you're working with us. Same shit."

I rolled my eyes at this. "Well, it's pretty entertaining for now. I swear you guys better not pull anything crazy otherwise Paul and I will break your pretty little face." I warned.

Zayn laughed, "Aw, you think I'm pretty."

I scoffed, "Yeah, as if Malik."

"But you just said it," he argued.

I just gave him a look of disbelief, shaking my head at him. He looked pleased with himself.

Stopping in front of the door to the villa, I turned to Zayn, suddenly feeling… what were they… butterflies? There was a comfortable silence as we just looked at each other before Zayn cleared his throat, offering me my folder and laptop. I took them without hesitation before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and glancing back up at him.

"Well, thanks for that." I said softly.

"My pleasure," he replied.

Oh okay, now it was awkward.

"Well, I should probably go in," I laughed awkwardly, trying to clear the air.

Zayn just grinned, "Yeah, you should."

Like an idiot, I just stared at him while he looked at me expectantly.

"Yeah, I'll just go now," I said, turning towards the door and opening it. Zayn shook his head, chuckling.

"Bye Riley," he said, turning away.

"Deuces, Malik." I laughed.

* * *

**10:40AM  
Villa #4, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA. **

_Avery. _

I looked up in surprise as Riley stumbled through the door, looking all flustered and giddy and ready to pass out. The only time she acted like this was if she was around someone she liked. And that held my curiosity.

"Who was that?" I asked, throwing the remote over to Zoey who was playing with her phone. I walked over to the kitchen island where Riley had dumped all of her stuff and was busily pouring herself a glass of water.

"Who was who?" she asked, feigning innocence as she finished off the first glass and turned to grab more. I rolled my eyes, waiting patiently for her to answer the question.

She finally caved after a few moments of intense staring.

"Okay, I admit it… it was Zayn."

I shot her an amused look. "Zayn, aye?"

"There's nothing going on between us," she said hurriedly.

"Yeah, like I'll believe that."

"No, seriously. There's nothing going on between us." Riley said confidently. "I'm telling you now and I'll happily tell you again. There's nothing going on between us so don't kid yourself. I mean, I hardly know the guy… and plus, I've heard stories about him."

"What kind of stories?" I asked curiously.

Riley shrugged. "Just… stories. He sleeps around." She gave me a pointed look. "I refuse to be a one night stand and you know that."

I sighed, letting the subject drop. Riley was just hard headed. She'd refused to date ever since her then-boyfriend had cheated on her in tenth grade. "Okay, whatever." I said.

Riley visibly relaxed, finishing off her second glass of water and replacing the glass on the drying rack. "So what are we doing today?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"What do you have in mind?"

* * *

**11:32AM  
The Pool, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA.**

_Avery._

Next thing you know, we were dropping all of our stuff down on the tanning beds, spreading sunscreen and moisturiser all over ourselves, preparing to jump into the cool water. I adjusted my sunnies so that they were on my head while spreading the lotion all over Riley's back, manoeuvring around the straps on her back.

Once done with that, I glanced around the pool area. Some girls were eyeing us with distaste, sprawled on their sunbeds while reading a magazine, apparently too cool for the water. I laughed at their idiocy. Karma's a bitch anyway. Those girls are going to end up with cancer one day.

Looking over to the other side of the pool, I spotted a mass of curls and a whole lot of skin. It was him. Harry Styles.

As if on cue, he turned around to face us. He shot me a grin before turning back to his buddies, the blonde and the brunette; Niall and Louis, I think. He muttered something to them before heaving himself up out of the water and making his way towards us.

"Crap," I muttered, turning back around to Riley and Zoey. They were chatting to each other while admiring hot guys from afar.

"What?" Riley asked me. I couldn't help but glance over again to see that Harry was less than 10 metres away from us.

"Harry's coming." I explained, removing my Ray Bans from my head and throwing them carelessly into my bag.

"Who's Harry again?" Riley asked, confused.

"I am." a new voice said. I took a deep breath before turning around, smiling widely.

"Hello Harry." I said cheerfully.

He shot me a grin, pulling me in for a huge bear hug. "Hello beautiful," he said softly.

I pulled away from him, slightly confused as to what was happening. From behind Harry, Riley shot me a knowing look. I refrained from sticking my tongue out at her.

Harry cleared his throat, turning to Riley and Zoey and sticking his hand out. "I'm Harry Styles," he grinned.

"We know," they chorused. "We met you yesterday," Riley raised an eyebrow.

Harry, understandably, looked uncomfortable.

"I'm just kidding," Riley grinned, also pulling him in for a hug. I swear the girl was bipolar sometimes. It was worrying, really.

We all chatted for a while before Riley and Zoey decided to head off into the water (I think Riley had spotted someone), leaving me to deal with Harry myself.

"Do you want to get into the water?" he asked, his dimples appearing as he grinned widely. I shrugged, nodding carefully before letting out a shriek as Harry's arms enclosed around my bare waist and we plummeted into the cool depths of the water.

"What was that for?!" I yelled as we surfaced. Harry was laughing at me, his hands never leaving my waist. Surprisingly, it felt… nice.

"I don't know," he shrugged. What a dick.

"You're going to pay for that," I warned him, trying to make my voice sound as menacing as possible. The stupid smirk never left his face.

"Bring it on," he challenged before splashing me with water. I retaliated with an even bigger splash, which of course, evolved into a huge war between him, Niall and Louis against me, Riley and Zoey.

After a while of that and a few complaints made by annoyed resort guests, we decided to call it quits and headed up to 'Sea Beans', a cute little Italian style café restaurant thing with an outdoor courtyard for guests. There, we settle into the little chairs and chatted aimlessly for the whole time, enjoying our food and drinks, which unfortunately, were non-alcoholic. Damn you America and your heightened drinking age.

Time flew as we chatted and I was surprised at what amazing company the One Direction boys were. Oh, well, 3/5 of them anyway. We talked about the most random things from our lives way back in those ancient times to the pronunciation of 'scone'. It was all cute banter to say the least.

By the time we were all finished, 2PM had rolled around and we all needed to go back to our rooms to prep for the loading of the vans to head to the airport. We, mainly I, had to pack. And packing wasn't exactly my strong point.

Before we left though, Harry approached me, a sly grin plastered on his face.

"Bye babe," he whispered into my ear before pressing his lips softly against my cheek, leaving me gape after him.

Fucking flirt.

* * *

**2:15PM  
Villa #4, Terranea Resort,  
Rancho Parlos Verdes, USA.**

_Riley. _

"Okay, please tell me that you knew what had just happened back then," I said to Avery as we entered the villa. The whole walk back from the restaurant had been silent, mainly on Avery's part. I suspected that she was still trying to come to terms with what had just happened at the café.

"I actually have no idea," Avery said truthfully, collapsing on the sofa. Zoey had disappeared off to somewhere, saying that 'she needed to help a friend with a problem'. Righty-o then. I'm not going to be doing the packing for her.

I started towards my room, picking up the clothes from around my room and throwing them carelessly onto the suitcase. Avery followed me in, jumping onto the bed and laying on her stomach, watching me as I speed-packed.

"Riley, what did you think that was?" Avery asked, nibbling on her bottom lip. After gathering all of my clothes off of the floor, I sat down on the floor next to the suitcase and began to fold everything neatly.

"Honestly, babe. I have no idea. He's either a huge flirt – which I believe he is – and he just wants to get into your pants, or he just wants to get into your pants." I shrugged, carefully placing the last pair of jeans onto the top of the pile and zipping my suitcase closed. I'd packed light, probably a good thing, seeing as it took me more than 30 mins to pack everything in. Avery had stayed silent the whole way through, looking very thoughtful. I couldn't blame her. When a hot guy shows his interest in you and kisses you on the cheek, I'd be thoughtful too.

"C'mon, up!" I urged, poking Avery, snapping her out of her daydream. "You've got to pack," I said.

She blinked at me a couple of times before spurring into action, jumping off the bed and heading across the hall to her room.

I stopped and stared.

It was just so… _neat._ Avery was the most careless person anyone could ever find… and yet she was the neatest.

Shit doesn't make sense.

I jumped onto her bed, playing around with her phone while waiting for her to pack. Sighing, I tapped on the twitter icon, waiting for the app to load. I hadn't been on this in ages. Never really understood it anyway.

I tapped on my mentions, eyes widening when I realised that my mentions had exploded. "What the fuck," I whispered to myself. I scrolled down amidst the messages from crazy fan girls with 'carrots' and 'potato' and '1D' in their name, feeling slightly confused before stopping at a tweet made by an all too familiar someone.

** zaynmalik: **hanging out with the amazing riley_c :) x x

I raised an eyebrow, trying to think back to when he might've sent this. I quickly tapped in a reply:

** riley_c: **how did u find me on twitter? haha (:x

I sighed, tapping back to my profile page where my followers had gone up by the thousands. My mentions which had slowed down to a trickle were exploding yet again. Oh man.

** aqilahfelton: ** riley_c why the fuck is zaynmalik talking to YOU of all people? ugly whore.

** kryptotina: ** riley_c ignore all the haters, babe. they're just jealous of you.

** Naaatashaaa: ** riley_c you're gorge. don't worry about all the haters. they don't like to share xx

** anittakiss: ** zaynmalik is talking to riley_c. this means war, bitch. bring it on.

I rolled my eyes at the first and last tweets before my mentions decided to refresh themselves again. I sighed, scrolling down the next few tweets until I came across another tweet made by one of the boys.

** Real_Liam_Payne: **Guys, dont be mean to riley_c. Shes a lovely gurl & doesnt desurve any of this.

I sighed, getting sick of all of the hate messages I was being sent, replying to as many people as I can who were being nice to me. When Avery was done, I rolled around on the bed so that I was lying on my stomach, exiting the twitter app and staring expectantly at Avery.

"You want to talk about it, don't you?"

I nodded, "Yup." I said, popping the 'p'. "Since when do we keep secrets from each other, Ave?"

"We don't," Avery sighed, sitting down on the bed and resting her back against the cushions. "I just haven't had the time to tell anyone and it's not exactly like anything happened anyway," she shrugged.

"Well start from the beginning." I urged.

"I first met Harry on our first day here, with all of the meetings. I was sitting at lunch and the boys except for Zayn joined me at the table. We just chatted for a bit before I had to jet off. Then the next time we saw each other was at Nelson's last night when we were roasting marshmallows and all that. You'd gone off with Zayn," she stopped to wink at me before continuing, "and he sat down next to me and began singing to me and stuff, and OH! Did I tell you?"

"No you didn't," I laughed at the excited look on her face.

"I'm officially One Direction's temporary PR along with Zoey's!"

"Oh my god! That's huge!" I squealed, attacking her with a hug.

"I got the call this morning," she grinned at me, "Well, back to the story, yeah we flirted – HE flirted for a bit and then I had to leave and then the next time we saw each other was today and you know the story to that…"

"Do you like him?" I asked, point blank.

"It's too early for that," she mumbled, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. "You know nothing can come of this, right? I mean, I work for him. It's not allowed."

"Who says that anyone has to know?" I grinned mischievously, earning a pillow to the face from Avery.

* * *

thoughts on this, guys? :) leave a review if you want more! :D


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